Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Why is Cobb a menace? Over the past week, he has twice used a new, pesky way to wake me up -- by sticking his damned nose in my ear at about 5 a.m.

Here's the thing. Cobb knows to wake me up when he needs to get outside in the morning and go to the bathroom. So I can't exactly yell at him when he does as he's supposed to do, can I?

So the dog has learned two things. First of all, there's no quicker way to get me out of bed by sticking a cold, wet nose straight in my ear. Second, he won't get in trouble for waking me up in such a brutal manner.

I figure the little rascal is doing it all out of spite. He's never exactly warmed up to being trained and often figures out a way to obey but do something obnoxious in the process.

Perhaps I should have gotten a nice, lethargic dog who is both dumber and less devious than Cobb. I do adore the little pest in spite of his scheming ways, however. We got that dog back in September 2006 and since then I've chased him through the neighborhood more than once after he's found a way out of our fence and I've had to put up with him figuring out how to unlatch our back gate and escape. I've bailed him out of the pound, he's peed in my car, Cobb behaves on a leash about as well as a squirrel would, he's managed to lose at least four collars and his shrill, yipping bark has caused one neighbor to hate my guts.

Tina -- That could be. Almost every rat terrier I've met is hyperactive, devious, too smart for its own good and hell on wheels. If Cobb learns he's not supposed to do something, he's determined to do it. He's got to be in the middle of everything, insists on being the center of attention and he's stubborn.